Sport

Wanderers rookie Vela sounds derby rallying call

JOSH Vela has turned up the temperature ahead of Saturday’s clash with Burnley.

Wanderers’ teenage midfielder has called on his team-mates to match the fans’ passion for the derby showdown.

Vela wants to forget about his first-ever league start for the club in last weekend’s 2-1 defeat at Watford at Vicarage Road which left the Whites three points above the relegation zone and sparked a degree of concern among fans that the club could be facing a second successive relegation battle.

But Vela can think of no better antidote to the uncertainty than a win against the play-off chasing Clarets, especially at the Reebok.

“We’ve got to get it out of our system for the derby against Burnley,” he said of the Watford result. “We want another three points at home.

“It’ll be a very tough game. The crowd will be up for it and we’ve got to make sure we’re up for it as well. We need three points from our home games now to start moving up the table.”

Vela has answered Dougie Freedman’s call in recent weeks, stepping into the boots of the experienced Keith Andrews alongside Jay Spearing in the heart of midfield.

And though he is due to come under pressure for his place from new signing Medo Kamara and fit-again pair Mark Davies and Stuart Holden – perhaps in time for the Clarets clash – Vela is determined to keep up the work ethic that originally landed him his first-team chance.

“I can only keep working hard in training and then, hopefully, I can get a few starts. I’ll see where it goes from there,” he said. “The manager has been happy with me. He’s told me to keep on going, to keep down to earth, keep believing and I’ll get my chance.”